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Sunday, 31 July 2011

In front of the parade of shops at the bottom end of Market Street, leading towards the bus station, is a colonnade.

Classical colonnades were constructed using large stone columns but Victorian colonnades were made with wrought iron. Essentially they create a covered walkway in front of the buildings. They shelter shoppers from the rain, but in better weather the sun casts delightful shadows on the pavement.

Saturday, 30 July 2011

A fairly clear reflection this week of the 19th century terraced houses on Union Street. They are reflected in the window of the Union Street clinic. It is one of those windows constructed so that you can look out of it but you can't look in. I don't know if anyone in the waiting room was looking out at me when I took this photo.

Thursday, 28 July 2011

This old shop on Stockport Road, Gee Cross has been closed for a few years.

It was once a butcher's shop I think and more recently a hot sandwich shop.

It used to have a bay window frontage but that has long gone and the window space boarded up. The base has been filled with soil and turned into a flower bed and a trellis attached to the window boards for climbers.

For wider view in colour showing its also-closed neighbour see Geograph.

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Another view from the top deck of the #206 bus from Gee Cross to Piccadilly.

We are at the traffic lights where Union Street meets Market Street.

It is now a box junction. For the benefit of our overseas viewers a box junction is a traffic control measure designed to prevent gridlock at busy road junctions. The surface of the junction is marked with a criss-cross grid of diagonal painted lines and vehicles may not enter the area so marked unless their exit from the junction is clear; drivers may enter the box and wait when they want to turn right and are stopped from doing so only by oncoming traffic or by other vehicles waiting to turn right.

Simple, isn't it?

You can see a slide-show and follow the route of my journey on the #206 at Geo-trips.

Sunday, 24 July 2011

A shadow still lies over the area where Ian Brady and Myra Hindley lived. Their old house has long since been demolished. If you need to, read the article on Wikipedia.

They were called the "Moors Murderers" through having buried their victims on Saddleworth Moor. Despite an intensive search, the body of Keith Bennett has yet to be found. A concerted effort was made in 1986 - see my poem Searchday Thursday - but without resolution.

Friday, 22 July 2011

To cross the motorway you could go up to the footbridge with the spiral ramp.

The alternative is use the Cheapside underpass which lies to the left of the photographer's position in yesterday's shot. It has been cleaned up a little bit since my photograph published in August 2007.

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Old maps of Gee Cross mark the present section of Stockport Road down past the Werneth Hotel as "Acorn Hill".

The house next to The Werneth, lower down the road and opposite the bend, is called "Acorn Villa" and is dated 1879. You can see it on Hyde DP Xtra.

This photograph was taken from the top deck of the new 206 bus route that now runs half-hourly between Gee Cross and Manchester Piccadilly via Haughton Green and Gorton Lane. You can see a slide show of my journey to Manchester on the Geo-trips site.

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

As I promised last week here is a close-up of Booth's Well as dressed in 2011.

Booth's Well on Wych Road is decorated each year by the local Women's Institue. The design for 2011 was based on the wedding of the Owl and the Pussycat. It was 140 years ago that Edward Lear published his nonsense songs.

Sunday, 17 July 2011

This week's contribution to both Shadow Shot Sunday at Hey Harriet and Sunday Bridges at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo features a fimilar landmark, the spiral ramp leading up to a footbridge over the M67 motorway.

Friday, 15 July 2011

Hyde Mill was demolished in 2009 and an estate of new houses called "Cotton Mills" is being erected. This photograph was taken from the four roads junction of Yew Tree Lane and Birch Lane with Ashton Road and Johnson Brook Road.

Building has already started on part of the site, but this section is still being prepared. The view here will again disappear before long.

Thursday, 14 July 2011

A sepia view of Grafton Street looking East past the Grafton Centre and Bangla City towards Clark Way and the Northern end of John Street.

The houses on John Street are about the only parts of this photograph that existed before the M67 motorway and the Clark Way bypass were bulldozed through this area of Hyde. Grafton Street was then a street of old terraced houses.

The coloured version of this photograph can be seen on Geograph whilst the view in the opposite direction can be seen on Hyde DP Xtra.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

I'd never heard of Zumba until I saw this banner on the side of the Town Hall.

"Get Bikini Fit for Summer" it says which suggested it was something to do with aerobics. Since then I've discovered that it is a combination of dancing and excercise - very energetic and exhausting according to people who've told me they've tried it.

Friday, 8 July 2011

The mobile Police Station parked outside Gee Cross Fete was manned by Community Support Officers. They used to have their own Facebook page but it has been pulled. It seems they didn't attract enough Facebook friends and feedback to justify its presence.